Consistency: The Key Element in Content Strategy

Written by Melissa Manthos

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term consistency signifies the adoption of the same behaviour over a long period of time. The origin of the word is believed to be late 16th century; it derives from the Latin term consistentia. We strongly believe in the correct use of this terminology in the online communication fields as this will result in a significant ROI and business relationships with consumers due to the… WAIT, WHAT!?

Confused? That’s okay, don’t worry, we are not going crazy (yet!). I simply decided to change the way we usually write by using a formal tone of voice. Because who cares about consistency as long as you’re giving value, right? WRONG! You were probably just about to close the tab and never return on our website. Well then, thank you for staying, now let’s get serious.

As a brand, you have to remember to be consistent, always. That can apply across many different things, such as using the same colour schemes in all your marketing strategies; adopting one tone of voice; or having your website look the same in all the pages.

Consistency will lead to brand association, which should be one of your top priorities – you want people to be reminded of your company by simply looking at a color or hearing a sound.

When developing a content strategy, you have to keep in mind to always be consistent. There are two reasons for that: firstly, people like patterns, so that will allow you to keep your audience engaged and interested all the time; secondly, it will make your life so much easier. Why? Because consistency requires planning. And planning is time saving and effective in the long run.

The 3Cs: Consistent Content Calendar

You need a content calendar in your life, and you need it to be consistent.

Having a (consistent) content calendar will allow your company to plan and eventually know what content has to be created, who is in charge of it and when it needs to be shared. This can result in a short or long-term plan for content creation.

Here’s how to make a content calendar and be sure it’s consistent:

Choose a topic to write about – this doesn’t need to limit you to one thing, it can be a general topic subdivided into different categories. What is important is for you to make sure that the categories are linked to the main topic, so as to constantly keep consistency.

Decide when you want your content to be posted. Choose as many days as you please (but be realistic) and make sure to have all the content ready to go out on those days. With time, your audience will start tracking your website and social media on those specific days so as to be able to keep up to date with your content.

Pick the writers! You can have as many as you wish, according to who feels comfortable writing with deadlines and about specific topics. What you must have though, is one to two persons to double check the content – this is because you want to make sure that, besides the content being relevant to the topic chosen, the tone of voice used is correct and consistent. Your audience, with time, will build a connection with your brand because they will get used to the way the content is presented to them – should this change from a day to the next and be inconsistent, your chances of building that relationship will be low.

Imagine someone speaking to you with a different tone of voice every time you meet, you would feel confused right? The same goes for your brand. If you try to portray a serious image on your website, but then act informal on your social media pages, your audience might not really understand who you are.

Confusion can really ruin your brand, this is why consistency is so fundamental and you should never forget about it.

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Melissa is the definition of multiculturalism: she is half French and half Greek, has lived for over a decade in Libya and her mother tongue is Italian. She is a social media freak who loves writing and photography. You can find her 365 days a year at the beach, her natural habitat.

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